We'll try again next year ...

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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has cancelled its tender for identity assurance services, claiming it had not followed the relevant procedures for the procurement.

Earlier this month it published a tender notice with the aim of supporting its major programmes, including the provision of universal credit and personal independence payments, and making them available for other parts of central government. But it has now issued a cancellation notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (Ojeu).

A spokeswoman for the DWP said: "The Ojeu for identity assurance services (IAS) was (prematurely) issued by the department before all of the necessary governance, approvals and checks were complete and therefore needed to be withdrawn. We expect an Ojeu for IAS to be re-issued in the new year."

The tender followed the government's preferred route, laid down in guidelines from the Cabinet Office, to give people a choice of private sector service providers that would verify their identities when using a service.

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